Well, guys. We’re in the full swing of campaign season now. Which means it’s almost here. Our first presidential election. It’s been 18-21 years for each of us. If you’re on the higher end of that scale, you’ve had a chance to vote in midterm elections, but you probably didn’t. But finally, this is the year.
This is the year we get to make a difference. This is the year we get to exercise one of the greatest rights in the world. This is the year we get to choose the ruler of the free world. This is the year we get to vote for President of the United States.
And while I’m extremely excited, I feel as though I’m not as excited as I should be. Because I look at the field of candidates and think “this is the field we’re stuck with?” Really? This is what we’ve got?
On the blue team, there’s Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Hillary certainly has the high profile experience. She has the connections, and she knows the system. She’s been an influential First Lady. She’s been Secretary of State. But, she may also be a criminal. Bernie’s been around the block a few times. He too has connections. He too knows the system. But he favors an economic system that is pretty foreign and unacceptable to a lot of Americans.
The biggest similarity between the democratic candidates is the fact that they’re both extremely polarizing. I’m not sure there is a middle ground on either candidate. Their ideas and actions have drawn many people towards them but have also push large numbers of people in the opposite direction.
In the red corner, I’m only going to spend time discussing the two front runners. It is my hope that Kasich can put himself in a position to make a difference in a convention, but the seems pretty unlikely. So here, we’ve got Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Two outsiders. The opposite of the democratic candidates. They’re fighting the establishment nearly every step of the way. With their extreme views and hateful rhetoric, they are equally as polarizing as the democrats. Again, there is very little middle ground. You either love the fire they spit, or you wish to wield the extinguisher.
Regardless of the way we lean, and regardless of the slight we feel toward our options for President, this election is the most important in recent memory. Whoever we decide to elect in November will take our country in an exponentially different direction than a member of the opposite party. They say they’ll compromise, but based on their views, it seems as though a compromise would be very unlikely.
It’s a big tug of war match. But when that rope finally breaks, the winning side will take off in the opposite direction, and there may be no stopping the runner.
So with all the implications of this election and the crapshoot of the primaries we’re going through now, we may not like what’s going on, and we may not like our options, but at least we get a say in it.
